Berkshire Pork Chops

It seems to be PORK WEEK at Casa Sass, but can you blame me?  It’s our pork CSA share week!  What’s a CSA, you ask?  It’s a bigger post for another time soon, but basically we got into a program (Consumer-Supported Agriculture) where a local farmer offers a membership, or a subscription, called a “share” directly to a consumer (us).

We have a pork share with Double R Farms (link is in my sidebar) here in Oklahoma, and for Double R, a share is about five pounds of heritage, pasture-raised Berkshire pork every two weeks in a variety of cuts.  If you’re local to Oklahoma City, I’ll tell you she has some more shares available. Our share also includes a dozen farm eggs when we pick up our pork.  It’s SUPER worth it, and I’ll write more about that another time.  We’ve got dinner prep and pictures to get into!

Before I start to talk about Berkshire pork, and how freaking delicious it is, let me give a little disclaimer.  Getting your pork from the farmer is more expensive than getting factory-farmed pork from the grocery, but you get what you pay for.  I have cooked with supermarket pork for a long time, all my life, and I probably still will.  I think the flavor and the health benefits of locally-raised pork is worth the (little) extra cost, but I’m not beneath getting some pork from the supermarket if I need to.  So, don’t think I am all up on a high horse while I describe this stuff to you — it’s more of a soap box.  A gentle, descriptive, sort of persuasive, soap box.  With pictures.  Oh my god, I wish we had smell-o-vision.

This is the pork chops as I got them from Patrice, the pork farmer.

This is a little over a pound and it’s two gorgeous chops.  You might already notice that the heritage pork is a lot pinker and more marbled than supermarket pork.  Berkshire pork in particular is fattier than supermarket pork.  That’s because big factory farms for supermarket pork have been breeding hogs to be leaner and leaner, due to demand for “the other white meat.”  So, the pigs grow bigger muscles, but less fat.  Fat is flavor!  Lean meat is great, when it’s not drying out or needing some kind of sauce or something with it.  Sometimes, you just need to splurge a little and have a nice marbled steak or, in this case, pork chop.

These are bone-in center cut pork chops, which the pork marketing people are starting to call a Ribeye Chop.  You can see how it looks just like a little ribeye steak.  It comes from the same muscles on the hog as the steak does from a cow.  Think of how tender a ribeye steak is — this cut of chop is also a tender, juicy cut.  It’s my fave on a non-heritage hog, too. Great for grilling or pan-searing.  The bone adds flavor, but be aware it will also take a little longer to cook.

I usually put the same simple combo of seasonings on pork as I do on steak — my mom always put a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder on the steaks about an hour before they went on the grill.  Equal parts of each.  Today, because we’re dealing with the more flavorful heritage pork, I like to keep it simple with just some kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Both sides.  BOTH. SIDES.  Don’t skip that step!

This is my hand-me-down super-vintage (this is original pumpkin orange from the 70s, y’all) iron pan.  Iron pans, whether cast iron, enameled iron, etc., are really great for meats because they hold heat evenly and don’t generally get hot spots where some areas of the pan are hot and others are only warm.  They also make a great crust on all types of meat.  Having some kind of cast iron pan (Lodge makes some great ones, try sporting good stores and hardware stores for a much better price than kitchen megastores) is something I encourage for all cooks.  If you don’t have one, you don’t know what you’re missing!

This pan was heated up for a few minutes on medium heat until I could hold my hand over it and feel the heat radiating.  The chops should sizzle, but not smoke, when they hit the pan.  The side that goes in the pan first is the side you want to show when you dish up the plate, because it will have a prettier crust on it.  I cooked these chops on the first side until the juices started to pool up on the uncooked side.  Then, I flipped them over and let them sizzle some more until they were about 150 degrees, or kind of medium.  No shame in checking with a little slice into it!  (If you cut into the chop on the side that will face down onto the plate, no one will even know you checked!)

Yes, medium, don’t sic the pork police on me!  Trichinosis isn’t a problem in the US anymore, so the USDA has lowered the suggested finishing temperature for pork from 160 (read: dry) to 145 (read: omnomnom).  Try it!  No, seriously.  It’s a whole new world.

Now, don’t let anybody tell you I’m a hoity toity cook — this is the finished chop and the sides — an ear of corn on the cob and some steamed veggies. The veggies are a bagged raw fresh veg mix from the produce section.  Dump it into a microwave-safe bowl.  Put a splash of water in the bowl.  Cover loosely.  Microwave until they are cooked to your liking (we like them crisp-tender around here).  Drain the water, pat of butter and lemon pepper seasoning, toss, put on the plate.  The little bit of butter helps the seasonings stick to the veg, just like butter helps salt stick on an year of corn.

This whole meal took me less than 30 minutes counting the seasoning and cooking the pork and the veggies.  The lemon pepper adds some salt, pepper and that citrusy brightness to the broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots.  Could this be any easier?  I SUBMIT THAT IT CANNOT!

Yeah, this one is just here for the food porn.  LOOK, HOW BROWN AND DELICIOUS!

This picture gives you an idea of how tender and juicy the pork chops are on the inside.  These are even cooked just barely a touch more than I would have liked and they were still awesome!  We were both gnawing on the bones and licking our fingers.  Don’t judge!

Even if you don’t, can’t, or don’t want to explore the world of locally-farmed meats, I still contend that a pan fried pork chop is one of the most comforting to eat (and easy to prepare) meals any time of the year.  What are some of your go-to easy meals?  How do you usually cook pork chops?  I’d love to read in the comments!

PORK WEEK!  This needs to be a thing!  Is there a petition or something we can start?  Seriously.

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